Estonia were made to rue a plethora of missed goalscoring opportunities as they were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw with Moldova at Tallinn’s A. Le Coq Arena.
The hosts had been seeking to complete the double over their opponents following an entertaining 3-2 victory in March and round out their home campaign of 2026 World Cup Qualifying with a morale boosting win, but could not find their way past a stubborn Moldovan side that stood firm to take its first point of the campaign back to Chișinău.
Estonia had started brightly, forcing a corner within the opening 2 minutes and looking comfortable in possession as they sought to assert some early dominance. In an early sign that the home side could not expect to have things all their own way, however, Moldova almost took an early lead against the run of play in the 8th minute – with some excellent vision from Danila Forov giving striker Virgiliu Postolachi space to smash the underside of the crossbar from outside the box.
Despite this early warning the hosts kept their composure and were rewarded just 4 minutes later, with Mattias Käit putting his team ahead with a sublime strike from outside the penalty area that found the top right hand corner. This set the tone for the rest of the half – Estonia found themselves enjoying the lion’s share of possession (67% vs 33% at the break) and produced plenty of clear cut and near chances, but could not find the final touch to make them count. Youngster Patrik Kristaal, still just 17 years old, showed signs of his promise when finding himself in space, but could only blaze his shot over on the half hour mark. Estonia routinely found themselves in positions of strength but lacked the ruthlessness to take advantage.
Moldova struggle to create much in the first half, with their only major chances really coming from Estonian defensive errors – goalkeeper Karl Hein in particular was breathing a huge sigh of relief that his cheap giveaway of the ball to the Moldovan attack only resulted in a wasteful, tame shot directed straight at his body after 37 minutes.
The start of the second half saw Estonia continue where they left off – but unfortunately this also meant a return lacking a clinical edge when it truly mattered. A sensational run and subsequent pass from midfield by Karol Mets in the 52nd minute set up striker Ioan Yakovlev in space with the goal at his mercy, but he could only send his shot high into the stands. Patrik Kristal continued this trend just two minutes later, displaying incredible skill to receive Robi Saarma’s pitch perfect intercepted pass and then dribble past the defender before only managing to shoot straight at a grateful Matvei Igonen.
It was the story of Estonia’s night – too many moments of individual near brilliance without reward – and they soon paid for it. A brief period of Moldovan pressure combined with some poor marking allowed Stefan Bodisteanu acres of space to whip his strike, with the help of a handy deflection, past a helpless Hein.
Estonia surged forward in desperate search of a winning goal but Moldova’s defence did not buckle, and, aside from two late penalty appeals that were waved away by Croatian referee Igor Pajac, they never truly looked like taking all three points. Encouraging signs were on display throughout, but perhaps one of the more winnable fixtures in a tough Group I slipped through Estonian fingers.
A World Cup qualifying campaign full of positive moments but light on points comes to its conclusion on 13th November, with Estonia taking on group leaders Norway in Oslo.
Estonia vs Moldova – 1:1 (1:0)
Goals: Käit 12′ | Bodisteanu 64′
EST: Hein, Schjonning-Larsen, Paskotši, Mets, Sinjavskij, Soomets, Käit (Paalberg 86′), Yakovlev, Kristal (Shein 59′), Saarma (Mustmaa 59′), Sappinen (Tamm 82′)
World Cup 2026 qualifying Group I
| # | Team | GP | W | D | L | PTS |
| 1 | Norway | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| 2 | Italy | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 15 |
| 3 | Israel | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 9 |
| 4 | Estonia | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 |
| 5 | Moldova | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
